How to start a news website that makes money – Step by step guide

Are you excited to share your passion for journalism and connect with a worldwide audience eager for trustworthy news? Have you fantasized about creating your own news website that can both quench your hunger for knowledge and make you money?

The news sector has seen a dramatic transition in the digital age. Information is now accessible with just a click and we’re no longer restricted by old-fashioned newspapers and TV networks.

Anyone with an internet connection can create a news website for profit, amusement and to share news with the world.

In this article, you’ll learn how to create a news website in just four easy steps.

We’re going to cover everything from building a beautiful website to sharing exciting content, submitting your platform on Google News and finding ways to make money.

Once we’re done, this is how your news website will look.

Let’s get started!

Top performing news websites examples

Before we get to the tutorial, let’s check out some popular news websites.

If you’re learning how to make a news website, you may as well learn from the best!

BBC News

BBC News is one of the most popular news websites in the world. According to Wikipedia, BBC News had 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021.

It has an organized menu for easy navigation and sections to keep everything organized. The site uses Google Ads and subscriptions to help cover expenses.

The New York Times

The New York Times is another great inspiration. The elegant design creates a vibe that seems like you’re reading a regular newspaper.

In 2012, the company introduced subscriptions to help pay for the upkeep. Now, they have several hundred thousand subscriptions and about $100 million in annual revenue.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera is another great news website worth emulating. The website has a live coverage section, which is very easy to access and get hooked with along with a standard news layout.

It’s a great example of how simple design works hand in hand with structure and layout to create a solid experience.

How to start a news website in 4 simple steps

Now you have seen them in action, let’s walk you through the process of how to make a news website of your own.

In this part, we’re going to show how to create a news website following 4 simple steps:

• Step 1. Create the news website
• Step 2. Publish content
• Step 3. Submit your website to Google News
• Step 4. Monetize your news website

Let’s get started!

1. Create your news website

Creating a news website is very simple if you have the right tools.

You’ll need:

1. A domain name
2. Web hosting
3. WordPress
4. A WordPress theme
5. A template
6. A few essential plugins

Don’t worry, it’s all simple enough and won’t cost much at all!

Step 1: Setup WordPress website

WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) for creating a news website.

It’s free, easy to use and comes with a huge collection of additional resources such as themes and plugins.

Before setting up WordPress, you need to purchase your domain name and hosting. This is the only thing you’ll have to pay for, everything else is free, with optional purchases.

Domain name

A domain name is your website address that people use for visiting your website. It’s good to pick a domain name that is easy to remember and represents news and your brand.

For example: ‘nytimes.com’ is the domain name of The New York Times.

Hosting

Web hosting is where you store all resources of your website. You can buy a hosting plan from any hosting provider but we recommend using Cloudways. It’s very popular!

WordPress

Many hosting providers install WordPress automatically when you set up your plan. Other hosts have a one-click WordPress installation feature, which is easy.

If you prefer to do it yourself, check out this handy guide on how to install WordPress or watch this video:

Step 2. Install and activate the Astra theme

Astra is a lightweight and powerful WordPress theme which is a perfect foundation for any news website. The theme is free, with optional upgrades that provide extra tools and templates.

Astra is highly customizable and works with page builders like Spectra, Elementor, Divi and others.

Let’s install and activate the Astra theme:

Navigate to Appearance > Themes.

Click the Add New button.

Use the search bar to find the Astra theme and hit the Install button.

Click the Activate button.

You’ve successfully installed and activated the Astra WordPress theme on your website!

Step 3. Install and activate Starter Templates

Starter Templates is a plugin that comes with free and premium professional news website templates.

You can build your own website using any readymade template to save valuable time and effort.

For this tutorial, we’ll choose a premium template called Tech News. There are free news website templates if you prefer.

The visually appealing template comes with all necessary features you need for a news website.

It has a header, footer, contact form, dedicated sections for displaying news, call to action (CTA), subscription forms, Google ad spaces and other essentials which make your website more engaging.

You need to purchase the premium version of Starter Templates called ‘Astra Premium Sites’ if you want to use Tech News, otherwise select a free template.

Once you’ve successfully completed the purchase, you’ll get the confirmation email with the Astra premium sites ZIP file and license key.

Now, Navigate to Plugins > Add New.

Press the Upload Plugin button.

Choose the plugin ZIP file and hit the Install Now button.

Click the Activate Plugin button.

Press the Activate link or green Activate License link to register the license.

Paste the license key and click the Activate License button.

Awesome! You’ve successfully activated the license key!

Step 4. Import news website template

Once Starter Templates has been activated, you’ll have access to the templates. Everyone can use the free templates If you purchased, you’ll also have access to premium templates.

Navigate to Appearance > Starter Templates.

Hit the Build Your Website Button to start the process.

Select Elementor page builder.

Now, find the template using the search bar and select it.

You can upload your website logo from here otherwise click the Continue button to move forward.

Don’t worry. You can add your website logo later.

If you want to change the default fonts and color, you can do it here. Otherwise, you can skip this part and press the Continue button.

Like your website logo, you can also change fonts and colors later.

If you would like to receive newsletters, share some of your basic information. Then hit the Submit & Build My Website button.

Now, the system will import all the necessary files and plugins to your website.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed your website template!

Finally, press the View Your Website button to have a quick look at your website.

Step 5: Customize your website

To customize your template, visit Pages or Posts from the WordPress dashboard.

Select Edit with Elementor under the page or post you want to customize. A new window will open with the content in the main pane and a menu on the left.

Select an area in the center where you want to customize something and use the menus above the block you selected to make changes.

If you want to add a block, select one from the menu on the left and drag it into place. Once done, customize it using the block menus.

To delete a block, select it on the page and select the trash icon.

It’s that simple!

Read our complete guide to working with Elementor to learn more about website customization.

Step 6: Add essential plugins for your news website

One of the main advantages of WordPress is the number of plugins you can use to add features and improve existing ones.

Here are some plugins we recommend for news websites:

PublishPress Planner: PublishPress Planner is an editorial calendar plugin for the efficient planning, scheduling and managing content for news websites. You can use it to organize posts, delegate work to team members, schedule publish dates and keep track of your editorial workflow.

Ditty: With the help of Ditty, you can make dynamic, resizable news tickers or brief news snippets to display on your website. It works well to draw attention to breaking news, updates, or significant announcements.

Vertical News Scroller: Vertical News Scroller is a plugin that enables you to make a scrolling news ticker for your website, much like Ditty. It keeps visitors engaged and informed by presenting news headlines in a vertical scrolling manner.

Yoast SEO: Yoast SEO is a popular plugin that helps you optimize your website for search engines. It provides on-page SEO tips, enables you to choose focus keywords, increases website exposure, creates XML sitemaps and more.

LiteSpeed Cache: LiteSpeed Cache helps improve the performance and load time of your news website. It minimizes asserts, files, server load and enables faster page rendering for a better user experience.

2. Publish content regularly

The world moves fast and news isn’t news for very long. If you want to build a reputation for delivering timely content, you’ll need to keep on top of the news and post as often as you can.

Here’s how to publish the news on your website:

Go to Posts > Add New.

Write a post title, add content, select a category, include some tags and set a featured image.

Once you’ve done with post setting and adding content click the Publish button.

You can create your news posts your way, but we have some suggestions on how best to begin:

1. Title: Create a newsworthy title that encourages curiosity
2. Content: Write the news in your signature style, using short sentences and paragraphs
3. Categories: Categorize your news in logical order so visitors can easily find it
4. Tags: Tags can help users search for news items using keywords
5. Featured image: Images sell stories so make sure to include them wherever possible

That’s what we consider the anatomy of a good news post. You can modify that as you see fit, but they all feature in the top news websites.

3. Submit your website to Google News

If you’re looking to reach more readers, submitting your website to Google News could be a great option!

It helps increase your search rankings and grab the attention of the engaged audience who crave reliable news sources.

Let’s see how to submit a website to Google News.

Visit Google Publish Center and add your website URL.

Add the publication name and location and hit the Add Publication button.

Now, you need to verify the ownership of your website using Google Search Console. Once you’ve verified then press the Finish button to move forward.

Now, it’s time to add a Google News feed.

Click the Edit button under the Google News area.

Add the basic information such as publication description and category.

Scroll a little bit and add distribution information.

Now, hit the New section button and select the Feed option.

Enter the feed details like title, RSS feed URL and view access then click the Add button.

Once you’ve added the required information and agreed to the terms and conditions then hit the blue Publish button.

It takes 14 days or more to complete the review process so you’ll need to be patient!

Here are some tried and tested tips for getting featured on Google News:

1. Write quality news pieces that reflect good journalism
2. Keep it original. Reference news sources but share news in your own words
3. Spend time on headlines. Use keywords and engagement techniques
4. Stick to the news. Google News won’t publish how-to posts or evergreen content
5. Try to write 1-2 articles per day. News moves fast and you’ll need to prove you can keep up
6. Supplement the news with other content. Write longform, how-tos, opinion pieces and other types of content to create authority. Just don’t use your news categories.

It’s well worth trying to be featured on Google News but it isn’t the only news syndicator out there. Try a few others too and see how far your news can spread!

4. Monetize your news website

While you can build a website for next to nothing, running it may cost money. Therefore, it’s essential to create sustainable monetization strategies so you can generate an income.

Here are some proven ways to monetize your news website and make money:

Ads

You can join ad networks like Google AdSense, which allow you to display ads on your site.

These ads can come in various forms, such as banners, sidebar placements and others. Be careful with ads and ad placement as they should never impact the user experience.

BBC News strategically uses banner and sidebar ads on its website.

Memberships/subscriptions

Selling memberships and subscription could be the most sustainable method that can really pay off in the long run. You can offer premium articles, early access to breaking news, in-depth analysis or even ad-free browsing.

You probably won’t be able to do this right away as you have to offer plenty of value. But, once your news website has grown a little, it can be a viable option.

Try providing them with top-notch, exclusive content that they can’t find anywhere else. This will give them a great reason to stick around and pay for the privilege.

Sponsored content

Offering sponsor content is a fascistic way to earn some revenue for your news website. You can collaborate with brands or organizations to give them the opportunity to publish sponsored articles or opinion pieces.

It’s really important to let your readers know about sponsored content. Transparency is key!

Things you need to know before starting a news website

Some key things to consider before launching your news website:

Choose a niche

Picking a suitable niche is the first step in starting a news website.

Ask yourself, what kinds of news you’ll focus on? It could be local, national and international. Or consider focusing on particular categories like breaking news, politics, entertainment, economy, sports, art, technology, science, business or culture.

We recommend choosing those topics that truly ignite your passion as it should show through in the content you produce.

Understand your target audience

Once you’ve picked a niche, you need to know your target audience.

Try to understand their demographic such as age, gender, location and consider learning their interests, concerns and what drives them.

You can connect with them on social media, conduct surveys and analyze their feedback to learn more about them.

Create a content strategy

Having a solid content strategy for your news website helps you manage content plans and editorial calendars.

We recommend adapting and refining your content strategy based on audience feedback and current trends to keep your news website relevant and engaging.

Set a monetization strategy

There are several ways to generate money from your news websites. We shared a couple of them in this post.

How you monetize your content is up to you, but we recommend selecting a method that will work for your audience as well as for you.

Wrapping Up

By using technologies like WordPress and the Astra theme, you can quickly and easily construct a professional and engaging news website in no time.

That’s the easy part though!

Once your news website is up and running and registered with Google News, it’s up to you to keep the content coming and build a reputation as the go-to place for news in your niche.

Do you enjoy this article? Want to use SureMembers to add membership features to your news website? We would love to hear your thoughts!